


Smoothed Edges

by Neva_Borne



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: AtLA, Budding Romance, Cute, Dadko, Ember Island, F/M, Fluff, Fluff prompt, Forgiveness, Friendship, Momtara, One Shot, Post-Southern Raiders, Season 3, Tumblr Prompt, Zutara, Zutara Prompt, connection, prompt, season three, the beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neva_Borne/pseuds/Neva_Borne
Summary: The beach has a special way of smoothing even the most ragged edges.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 125
Collections: Zutara One Shots





	Smoothed Edges

Something had shifted between them. It had started the moment Zuko offered to take her to find her mother’s killer and had been slowly developing and changing throughout their journey together until it finally clicked into its new place as Katara sat on the private dock by Zuko’s family beach house on Ember Island. He had left her there and went to retrieve the others, and that had given her time to think, to process everything that had happened, to sort out her emotions.

She had realized that she didn’t hate Zuko. 

She was still hurt, and she wasn’t sure that would ever truly go away, but her negative emotions were no longer directed at or associated with Zuko. He had spent weeks trying so hard to gain her trust and earn her forgiveness, and she was finally ready to accept that.

His arms had been warm and steady when she’d hugged him, and something had stirred, warm and bubbly, in her stomach as she closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of spices and woodsmoke that emanated from his body, and drank in the heat that he radiated. 

Although she broke the embrace first, she wished it had lasted longer.

Over the next few days, they steadily fell into a routine, enjoying the privacy and safety that the beach house afforded them. All of them, perhaps with the exception of Aang who had never been bothered by sleeping on the ground, were relieved to finally have real beds to sleep on again. Katara was grateful to have a kitchen to cook in, which allowed her to make meals that were more complicated than the soup and rice they had been mostly living off of while they camped out.

Surprisingly, Zuko had taken to helping her cook, lighting the fire of the stove when it was being difficult, chopping up meat and fruits and veggies, and cleaning up when they were done. 

The first day he did this, the day after they had all arrived on the island and she had outwardly forgiven him, she had been surprised, and her question of what exactly was he doing had come out a bit harsher than she had intended. 

His golden eyes had seemed to burn right through her when he looked at her. “I figured you might like some help.” He’d said. “But I can leave if you want.”

She’d blinked. No one had ever offered to help her cook throughout their entire journey. “No. No… I’d love some help. Um… thanks, Zuko.”

And so, from that morning on, they had cooked together, morning and night, and slowly the walls that were still tentatively built up between them began to crumble.

“Wait,” Zuko said one day, furrowing his brows at her as he scooped some onions into the pan and set it on the stove. “Sokka’s first girlfriend  _ actually  _ turned into the moon? I thought he made that up.”

Katara shook her head, stirring the pot of rice with a twisting motion of her wrist, swirling the water inside. “Nope, that really happened. It hit him pretty hard - he was terrified of losing Suki when he first realized he liked her.”

“Damn,” Zuko exhaled. “I don’t really blame him.”

Katara shrugged. “Every one of us has lost someone or something to this war.”

“Except me!” 

The voice came from behind them and they turned, watching as Toph casually strolled into the kitchen and plucked a plum from the fruit bowl.

“I haven’t lost anything, unless you count my super posh life back home. But I can go back whenever I want and it’ll still be there.” She bit into the fruit and juice ran down her chin.

“Hey! We’re making dinner!” Katara protested.

Toph let out a very unladylike belch and took another bite, answering with her mouth full. “So what? I’m starving. I’ll still eat dinner.”

Zuko sighed and shook his head, turning back to the meat and onions and swirling them around in the pan. Katara frowned at Toph even though she knew the girl couldn’t see her expression, and returned her attention to the rice, which had boiled nicely and now just needed to be drained.

Dinner was a quiet affair that night. Everyone was exhausted from a long day. Zuko had drilled Aang for a lot longer than usual in his firebending training, and then Toph had hit him hard with her own drills. Sokka and Suki had spent the morning shopping in the market and the afternoon alternating between sparring and swimming. 

One by one, they retreated to their bedrooms after eating until only Katara and Zuko remained. 

It irritated her a bit, that the others took for granted the fact that their meals were cooked and their dishes were washed every single day. She knew that it was just how things had always been, but now that she  _ had  _ help, it made her slightly resentful that the others had never bothered to offer. 

She knew why, of course. Sokka had always been reliant on her housekeeping skills, ever since their mother died. Aang had grown up in the Air Temples where his meals were provided for him and he only focused on learning airbending. And Toph… well, she had grown up the spoiled, sheltered daughter of a rich family in the Earth Kingdom. She was used to being served.

But Zuko was royalty, and he was the one who had offered to help her. And something about that was endearing in a way that Katara was scared to admit to.

When even Zuko disappeared, presumably to go to bed, she frowned slightly. He wasn’t obligated to help her, of course, but she’d grown used to the company and division of chores they had settled on. She sighed, gathered up the dishes, and took them in to be washed.

Her mind drifted and she found herself thinking about Zuko. About how he had seamlessly blended into their little family, even after months of hunting them down all over the world. He’d worked tirelessly to prove that he belonged with them, to make up for all the mistakes he’d made in the past. And, oddly enough, that weird bubbly feeling she’d felt when she’d first forgiven him, first wrapped her arms around him, hadn’t gone away.

With the dishes done, she made her way back out to the courtyard and sat on the steps, looking out across the beach and ocean in front of and below her. Night had fallen and the moon shone high in the sky, myriads of stars twinkling in the inky blackness above her head. She could feel the ocean and the moon, pulling on her chi, flooding her with energy, and she wrapped her arms around her knees and stared out at the glittering, gentle waves of the water.

“I made some tea.”

His voice startled her and she turned her head, meeting his golden eyes as he settled down beside her, offering her a cup of fragrant, steaming tea.

“Oh,” she said softly, taking the cup. “Thanks, Zuko.”

His eyes almost seemed to glow in the darkness as he nodded. “I figured it’s been a long day. We could stand to just relax for a bit.”

She smiled, her heartbeat increasing ever so slightly. She was silent for a while as she sipped her tea.

“I never apologized for how I treated you before.”

He shrugged. “You don’t have to. I understand.”

“No,” she insisted. “I do need to apologize. I was angry and I took that out on you, and you didn’t deserve that.”

“Except I kind of did,” he snorted. “I betrayed you in Ba Sing Se and you were right to be angry with me.” He sighed. “I was angry at myself for a long time too.”

Instinctively, she reached out and rested her hand on top of his. He started at the contact and turned his sun-colored eyes back on hers, but he didn’t pull away.

“Zuko, we’ve all made mistakes. And maybe it doesn’t mean anything coming from me, but I’m really proud of you. You’ve changed so much, and I  _ am  _ sorry that I treated you so horribly when you were trying to do the right thing.”

“You have no idea how much that actually means to me, Katara.” He murmured, his voice huskier than usual, as if his throat were tight. “Of everyone I’ve hurt… of everyone here… you were the one I cared most about making it up to.”

Katara swallowed, her own throat unnaturally dry. His eyes had  _ captured  _ hers, she realized. She was unable - or perhaps unwilling - to look away, and in that moment, whatever barriers were left between them melted away.

She felt him twist his hand and slide his fingers in between hers, and she gave his hand a squeeze, soaking in the heat of his skin.

She finally broke away from his gaze and looked out towards the ocean, but she leaned her head against his shoulder, letting the push and pull of the ocean below her steady her heartbeat. She closed her eyes as she felt Zuko rest his cheek against the top of her head.

The ragged pieces of their relationship over the past year had been patched together and smoothed over. In that moment, they were whole for the first time in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh so I love the idea of them getting together/growing close on Ember Island and it's my personal HC that that actually happened in the show and we only didn't get it in the end because of Bryke's misguided choice to make Kataang canon, BUT thank god for fanfiction, amiright?
> 
> So thank you for this prompt! I would have loved to make it longer but I've got so much stuff to write and it IS supposed to be a one-shot anyway so... I hope you enjoyed it!


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